Special to the Reading Eagle: Charles J. Adams III |
Kent Island offers the breezy island ambience of the Florida Keys, the architecture of New England, a golf course, several state parks, a web of trails for hiking and biking, distilleries, fishing charter boats, public boat landings and several inns and B&Bs.

Special to the Reading Eagle: Charles J. Adams III |
The oldest church on Kent Island, Christ Church, was built in 1880 and is considered to be a fine example of the Queen Anne style of church architecture. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Special to the Reading Eagle: Charles J. Adams III |
Considered to be one of the last original buildings of the "post and plank" construction style, the Cray House was built in 1809 by a ship carpenter named John Denny. It is the oldest house in Stevensville and is owned by the Kent Island Heritage Society. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Special to the Reading Eagle: Charles J. Adams III |
The Queen Anne's Railroad Company once connected the Delmarva Peninsula to Kent Island. The former Stevensville station was abandoned when passenger, and then freight service ended in 1948. The station, a length of track, and the rail cars were relocated to their present location in 1988 and restored by the Kent Island Heritage Society.

If you go

Distance and driving time to Reading: To Stevensville, 151 miles (2:31)

Take the breezy island ambience of the Florida Keys; the architecture of New England; add a golf course, several state parks, a web of five to 59-mile long hiking and biking trails through unspoiled lands, a couple of distilleries, a helicopter tour concession, fishing charter boats, public boat landings, several inns and B&Bs, and pop all of that in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

What you have is a tasty treat known as Kent Island, Maryland.

Did I mention the views? The crab cakes? The oysters? The rockfish (which you may know as striped bass)?

If you are a boater, you are likely familiar with the charms of Kent Island. Pleasure craft of all sizes and prices fill its many marinas, and oceangoing tankers and freighters, under way to the terminals in Baltimore harbor, sail or lay at anchor between the navigational beacons in the broadest part of the bay.

TODAY'S SPONSOR:

Kent Island dangles off the western shore of the Eastern Shore (yes, you read that right) of Maryland, and is an appendage of Queen Anne's County at the mouth of the Chester River.

The twin spans of the Bay Bridge, a combination of suspension and cantilever styles, vault more than four miles over the main shipping channel. A much - much - shorter bridge over Kent Narrows connects the island to the bulk of the county.

Although not as storied as Smith, Tangier and Tilghman islands, farther downstream, Kent is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and holds the distinction of being the site of the first English settlement in the state. In fact, when Kent Fort was built there in 1631, it was preceded only by Jamestown, Virginia, and Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In U.S. Census terms, Kent Island is a suburb in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. In reality, it is a world unto its own.

Driving on the US Route 50/301 highway, Kent Island can easily be overlooked by motorists heading to Annapolis and Washington to the west or Ocean City and other shore points to the east. But, a stop at one of the roadside shops, roadhouse diners, waterfront restaurants, or a turn into one of the historic villages will reveal a wealth of diversions.

Among those villages is Stevensville, which maintains its own historic district and boasts six structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The town's old country store is now a popular Italian restaurant, and clustered around the central triangle formed by Main Street, Love Point Road, and Cockey Lane are more than a dozen buildings with local and regional historical significance, including the Cray House, an 1809 "post and plank" gem that is one of the last of its kind in the country.

In a park to the rear of the Cray House is the former Stevensville station of the defunct Queen Anne's Railroad, enhanced by a length of track and a caboose.

Each of the 23 marked sites has a story to tell, and a brochure detailing them is available in most of the shops in town.

Perhaps the most intriguing historical building on Kent Island is the James E. Kirwan Museum, just south of Stevensville at 641 Dominion Road in Chester.

Open by appointment (410-758-2502), the museum is in the home of a former state senator and is said to have been constructed with lumber from the Johnstown floodwaters that flowed down the Susquehanna River and into the Chesapeake Bay in 1889.